Improvement in pipe-wrenches



NITED STATES .ATENT price.

JOHN CHARLES JOHNSON, OE OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND CHARLES ROBSON.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIPE-WRENCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,489, dated April 26, 1864.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN CHARLES. JOHN- sON, of OiLCity, injthe county of Venango and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gas-Tongs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawing, forming part of this specification, which is a perspective representation of my improved gas-tongs.

My improvement consists in attaching the hook or movable jaw of the tongs by a hinge or other jointl to a'screw-nut as its fulcrum, through the eye of which is screwed the handle, the upper end of which serves as the other or fixed jaw ofthe tongs, so that by screwing the handle up or down in the nut, and thus increasing or diminishing` the length of the fixed jaws of the tongs, they may be adapted to use with pipe or tubing, or other articles of greater or less diameter.

The principal use of gas-tongs is as a wrench for screwing up and unscrewing sections of gas-pipe or metallic tubing and other cylindrical articles, such as the rods used in the boring apparatus for salt and oil wells; and the object of my invention is to enable such a wrench to grip and hold with sufficient facility and rmness pipe or rods of various diameters. As ordinarily constructed, a pair of gas-tongs which can be used with a piece of tubing of three or four inches in diameter will not grip a tube or rod of much slnaller diameter, so that it is necessary to employ a variety of such tools, each ot' them being of limited capacity. I

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my improved gas-tongs, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawings, ais the handle of the tongs, which is an iron rod of suitable length, and which may be perfectly straight. At its upper end is a square head, b, the face of which is of steel or is hardened, and is indented or serrated, so as to give it a rmer hold on the pipe to be held between the jaws. The head b is of one piece with the handle, and forms the xed jaw. Its serrated face is slightly inclined inward or toward the point of the hook of the movable jaw c. The hook c is curved at the upper end toward the head b, and its point c is also indented. The lower end of the hook-piece c is forked, branching out into two arms,d d, so as to embrace the nut e, from opposite sides of which, at right angles to the handle a', extend'two pins, j', (one only being shown in the drawings.) Each of these pins enters into a circular hole near the extremity of the arms d d of the hook-piece c, thus forming the pivots on which the hook turns. The nut e is tapped at right angles to the axis of the pins f, and forms a female screw, into which is inserted the handle a, the upper end of which for some distance below the head b has screw-threads cut on it fitting intothe nut e. The diameter of the handle a is greater at the upper part, where the screw-threads are cut, than below the screw, so that the handle may be readily inserted into the nut e. The hook c may, instead of being forked and pivoted to the nut, be hinged to it in any manner that may be preferred.

When the tongs are to be used, the handle is screwed up or down in the nut, Iso as to adjust it to the diameter of the gas pipe or tube to be held by it, thus lengthening the distance from the center of the nut to the face of the fixed jaw or head, it' the diameter of the pipe or tube be small, or shortening it if the pipe vbe of greater diameter.

One important feature of my gas-tongs is that they adjust themselves to the surface of the article to be held, so that if the article to be gripped should not be of uniform diameter, but slightly tapering, by turning the handle part way round in the nut, the head, having a sloping face, will adapt itself to the taper, and thus take a much firmer hold.

I am aware that gas or pipe tongs have been made with one jaw pivoted to a movable piece which slides upon the main stem or handle, but does not turn thereon and operated by a screw-nut within said movable piece, and I therefore do not claim that device; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Constructing gas-tongs, substantially as described, by pivoting the hook or movable jawdirectly to Va nut screwed onto the handle, the upper part of which above the nut forms the other jaw of the tongs.

2. In combination with the gas-tongs,con- CHARLES JOHNSON, have hereunto set my structedfjas described in the trst claim, makhand. ing,` the ace of the jaw at the end 'of the handle inclined toward the point of the hook, so as JOHN CHARLES JOHNSON' to enable the tongs to be adapted to holding,` Witnesses: tapering surfaces. A. S. NICHOLSON,

In testimony whereof I, the Said JOHN JOHN W. MCGLOURY. 

